Putting bubbles in your 'ponics

tom__420 said:

These are the best air stones on the market: http://www.hydroponics.net/c/325
A little pricey but they will last forever
They also make the smallest bubbles I have seen come from an air stone
Cheap air stones are made with cheap products
How could you suggest a product to someone that you know you will have to fix at some point?
Seems crazy to me...
I can post some pics later, I have a tent w/ a 400w HPS
One plant has a deep water innovations micro pore diffuser and the other has cheap ones like the ones above^^^^
The plant with the micro pore diffuser is growing much faster and is almost three times the size

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Those things SUCK. Complete waste of money. IMO of course, BUT based on a real life comparison.

IF you think that spending more will always get you a superior product, then go ahead and WASTE your money. I have bought those and tried them and they are nowhere near as good as the cheaper ones I just suggested. again, i have tried nearly EVERYTHING.

have you tried the ones I mentioned? If not, then how could you possibly know that the ones you are suggesting are better? I have tried them BOTH and know with 100% certainty that the cheaper ones are FAR superior. I don't even use the diffusers I paid for, I have then tossed in a drawer at this point and will never even bother with them. THAT is how superior the "cheap" ones are.

As far as suggesting a product that needs to be "fixed".. Well, i gave the simple fix to the only possible problem they will have. If .20 cents of glue is to much for a person to spend, then so be it, let them spend $30 more for a diffuser that won't work half as good. But I have used them for awhile now and not a single issue with them. They make TONS of TINY bubbles and cover a MUCH larger area. Better in EVERY way.

If push comes to shove, I can take pics or make a video and post it of a side by side comparison. Using the EXACT diffuser you are pointing to (i got mine from the site you linked actually) and the cheaper (but more effective) hoses that I am suggesting.

I would suggest you at least TRY one next time you place and order from there, OK? It only cost $5. Then you can come back and tell us what you think. Until then, you just don't know, since you havent seen or tried them. Unless your "cheap" ones are EXACTLY "like" these, and not just similar ("like them").

Cissy said:

Those things SUCK. Complete waste of money. IMO of course, BUT based on a real life comparison.

IF you think that spending more will always get you a superior product, then go ahead and WASTE your money. I have bought those and tried them and they are nowhere near as good as the cheaper ones I just suggested. again, i have tried nearly EVERYTHING.

have you tried the ones I mentioned? If not, then how could you possibly know that the ones you are suggesting are better? I have tried them BOTH and know with 100% certainty that the cheaper ones are FAR superior. I don't even use the diffusers I paid for, I have then tossed in a drawer at this point and will never even bother with them. THAT is how superior the "cheap" ones are.

As far as suggesting a product that needs to be "fixed".. Well, i gave the simple fix to the only possible problem they will have. If .20 cents of glue is to much for a person to spend, then so be it, let them spend $30 more for a diffuser that won't work half as good. But I have used them for awhile now and not a single issue with them. They make TONS of TINY bubbles and cover a MUCH larger area. Better in EVERY way.

If push comes to shove, I can take pics or make a video and post it of a side by side comparison. Using the EXACT diffuser you are pointing to (i got mine from the site you linked actually) and the cheaper (but more effective) hoses that I am suggesting.

I would suggest you at least TRY one next time you place and order from there, OK? It only cost $5. Then you can come back and tell us what you think. Until then, you just don't know, since you havent seen or tried them. Unless your "cheap" ones are EXACTLY "like" these, and not just similar ("like them").

Click to expand...

I would not have said that the micro pore diffusers were better than the flexible ones if I have not used them that is just foolish. First three pics are of the flexible air diffuser that you claim to be better than the micro pore air diffusers, as you can see I stopped using it because I did not like the results I was getting







Now here are some pics of the plant that I am growing using the micro pore diffuser which according to you "SUCK"













Now please if you could be so kind, post some pictures of your plants and root balls using those flexible diffusers. I would really appreciate it since you claim many things but only have your words to back you up as of right now. I have posted pictures to back up my claims and I would say that the pictures speak for themselves

I will be looking forward to seeing your pics cissy

To each his/her own. Nice plants and nice roots, so it is obviously working well for you. I never doubted it or you.

I am admittedly JUST a "noob". Normally I grow tomatoes and corn outdoors and I will be using my hydro system for that as well, for the most part.. BUT I am not blind and I can see a clear difference between the two. The 4 foot long air tubes work much better than the expensive diffusers (AFTER the quick fix i mentioned above with the glue). Not only are the bubbles fine, but they are more plentiful and can be spread out over a 4' long area.

I grow in a 4' x 6' reservoir and need to spread them bubbles around. So these work perfect for me in that application, but I also prefer them in my smaller cloning and mother systems as well. Again, it's just preference I guess.. or opinion.. i dont know, but i think the exact opposite. what you think is great, i think sucks, and visa versa.

once more, i admit to being a "noob" and have only a couple of hydro grows under my belt at this point, but I got a soid 2 pounds of amazing bud even on my 1st go around (despite the countless "noob" issues I had). So my roots and results were just as big and brilliant as the one in your pic and this came from the "cheaper" air stones/tubes. and my mother plants had root systems that were bigger than I am... so i guess they both work, eh?

Here's a thread with some pics in it, if you care to look for yourself. Sorry that they arent new pics or pics of my roots, but if you really want to see the underside, i can grab a pic or two once lights come on, but my plants are all young right now. I think the end results speak for themselves though: https://www.rollitup.org/harvesting-curing/305936-any-these-ready-go.html

Here's an old pic of the system with the 4' "stones" in them. Remember, this system is 4'x6' and the whole thing is full of bubbles from end to end using just ONE pump and 8 of the stones(might have been 10). I have since upped that to 18 stones and 2 pumps for my latest grow(probably overkill, but i like a lot of bubbles). lol

anyhow, that's a lot of bubbles, wouldnt you say? they work GREAT once they are glued in the manner i mentioned above.. a minor hassle, but one that made a huge difference.

hey peeps, how low can you let your res go before needing to top up or re-fill. mine empties just shy of my 1 week routine maintenance on it, so am pondering trying to add a secondary storage reservoir so i can leave it those two extra days etc

tip top toker said:

hey peeps, how low can you let your res go before needing to top up or re-fill. mine empties just shy of my 1 week routine maintenance on it, so am pondering trying to add a secondary storage reservoir so i can leave it those two extra days etc

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How long CAN you let it go? well, I changed mine only one time (once every 4 weeks basically) in both of my 1st 2 grows. i did not have any problems whatsoever. going to change it every 10 days or so the next time just to see if it makes a difference, but as far as how long "CAN" you let it go, I went 4 weeks inbetween changes and had no issues. Of course I topped it off and adjusted the nutes as needed, but all out change just one time

those lips look YUM!

and i should have been a little clearer, as in how low can the water go before it get's to dangerous levels and needs to be topped up. one of the main aims of this DWC project was to get away from frequent watering and have the luxuary to leave it a week worry free. think i'll see if i can install a backup tank, really shouldn't be too hard i don't believe. just get an identiacal tote and plug a hose between the two at the bottom. then i could leave it 2 weeks sod throwing out 100ml of canna boost every week

tom__420 said:

These are the best air stones on the market: http://www.hydroponics.net/c/325
A little pricey but they will last forever
They also make the smallest bubbles I have seen come from an air stone
Cheap air stones are made with cheap products
How could you suggest a product to someone that you know you will have to fix at some point?
Seems crazy to me...
I can post some pics later, I have a tent w/ a 400w HPS
One plant has a deep water innovations micro pore diffuser and the other has cheap ones like the ones above^^^^
The plant with the micro pore diffuser is growing much faster and is almost three times the size

Click to expand...

Hey Tom, what size air pump is needed for those H stones to work well?

Will a Sunleaves 510 (71 gp) pump run two of those (1 H stone in each of 2 buckets)?

Your tree looks fantastic! Thanks, S

No it would not be strong enough
It is suggested to use at least 15L/min air pumps with these stones
The sunleaves pump is only 4.4L/min
I would suggest this pump to run two of them: http://www.sunleaves.com/detail.asp?sku=SDA530
It is rated for 600gph or 37.5L/min which would be perfect for two of the H stones
It comes with a 4 outlet attachment so you can just take a tee and connect two outlets to one so that there is only two outlets, one for each stone
Good luck!

tom__420 said:

No it would not be strong enough
It is suggested to use at least 15L/min air pumps with these stones
The sunleaves pump is only 4.4L/min
I would suggest this pump to run two of them: http://www.sunleaves.com/detail.asp?sku=SDA530
It is rated for 600gph or 37.5L/min which would be perfect for two of the H stones
It comes with a 4 outlet attachment so you can just take a tee and connect two outlets to one so that there is only two outlets, one for each stone
Good luck!

Click to expand...

Cheapest place to find that pump is here: http://cheaphydroponics.com/store/pumps-tubing-etc/air-pumps/cat_59.html

the 600GPH is $32 and the 950GPH is $35

Sounds like a good way to go. Still setting up my first DWC, so I'm glad I read this! Thanks for the info!

I will be using GH nutes so is there a GH nute that I should be using from the time the seeds germ or just plain water until the roots bust out of the rock wool, then start the 3 step at 1/4 strength? Thanks for the help, S

I am using the lucas formula on the plant pictured about
That is using the GH flora series minus the grow... just the micro and bloom
5ml. micro, 10ml. bloom for veg per gallon
8ml. micro, 16ml. bloom for flowering per gallon
I would start with 1/4 strength veg so 1.25ml micro and 2.5ml bloom per gallon and work your work up to full veg with each rez change

Great info, thanks! S

quick question on lucas formualr for anyone. is it vital to be using RO water etc, or can i get away with my hard water? (been tempted to buy an RO mahcine thing, so i don't have to worry about keeping spare totes lying around trying to evap off the chlorine

tip top toker said:

quick question on lucas formualr for anyone. is it vital to be using RO water etc, or can i get away with my hard water? (been tempted to buy an RO mahcine thing, so i don't have to worry about keeping spare totes lying around trying to evap off the chlorine

Click to expand...

I have been using the lucas formula with tap water that has not sat out at all
Straight from the tap to a gallon jug, mix up my nutes and pH it
Then I dump it in my 5 gallon rez
You need to worry about chlorine when using organic nutes
W/ chemical nutes the chlorine doesn't really matter

ah really. i might have to have a look at whether it harms my girls at all. it's a pain in my arse having to get 40L of water hiddden away while it evaporates. although you might have just generally nice water, who knows, i'll give it a try just bought some boost so it should all start to go go go go go

Nope my tap water is actually quite bad at least at this location, 300+ ppm

tom__420 said:

I have been using the lucas formula with tap water that has not sat out at all
Straight from the tap to a gallon jug, mix up my nutes and pH it
Then I dump it in my 5 gallon rez
You need to worry about chlorine when using organic nutes
W/ chemical nutes the chlorine doesn't really matter

Click to expand...

This is useful info, I've been worried about chlorine and lime in my water. GH is chem nutes so I will just run my water through a faucet mounted Pur filter to get out what I can and not worry about it. Thanks much, S

Hotsause said:

Just got done setting up some of my Bubbleponic system heres a few pics

So far i have 1 Airstone i will be going back to petco to get probably 2 more 14" airstones. Does anybody have any reviews on Penn Plax Bubble Wall thats the one i currently have. Do the airstones really matter??? Also what size Netpots would you recommend? I play on having at least 7 plants if possible 8

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I am running these right now and am quite happy. In the future once I have everything else setup - I plan on revisiting them because I feel like a little more of a micro pore action can be found. However for the price - I can't complain one bit on the growth they are giving me!

DivinePower said:

I am running these right now and am quite happy. In the future once I have everything else setup - I plan on revisiting them because I feel like a little more of a micro pore action can be found. However for the price - I can't complain one bit on the growth they are giving me!

Click to expand...

I am actually going with Sunleaves DuraPump Air 600 GPH pump a 10-12 Gallon tote with 3-4 airstones i don't need as big of a reservoir so i can keep my grow 100% legal. 3 plants Flowering should be plenty as i plan to scrog and top plus my 600w should give me nice dense buds. Plus i can throw my vegging plants right into flowering

I think you will find you will be turning the air flow down via the divider with that air pump running on one tote... even if it has 3-4 air stones.

I'm running the GH dual diaphram pump with two 18" wands as stated above and I have more air and bubbles then one could want in my 18 gallon tote. Once I setup my veg tent that pump will also feed the mothers and the cloner.

That sunleaves pump will be running my flower room and 5 5 gallon buckets.